Fast Track Prep Tip #12: Three Uncommon Food Items for the BOB

Traditionally, when you think of the items in a bug out bag, you think of a flashlight, knife, water filter, fire starter, paracord, first aid kit, and a whole list of other items that before long, fill your pack with gear that will help you survive should you have to flee the safety and comfort of your home.

When it comes to food items, the items carried in a bug out bag (also called a BOB or GO bag), are often limited by weight. MREs and freeze-dried meal pouches are popular, as are protein bars and jerky. All that being said, this article is not about BOB food for consumption. Instead, it is about three uncommon food items for the BOB that are handy for to have around for survival purposes.

Backdoor Survival Contributing Author Rob Hanus is back today with another Fast Track Tip as he tells about three important “spices of life”, salt, sugar, and baking soda,

The Spices of Life

When packing your bug-out or evacuation bags, it often is worthwhile to find items that have multiple uses. This saves on space and weight and cuts down on the amount of items you need to carry. This also applies to food items.

Here are three food items that you may not have thought of, but have multiple uses and you should include in your Go bags.

Salt
Sugar
Baking soda

Though these three items are usually considered cooking essentials, they have more uses than just for cooking.

Salt can be used for anything from putting out grease fires to preserving meat, but there’s only a couple of aspects of salt that we’re interested in most. Salt is a vital nutrient and without salt in your diet, your body loses the ability to regulate critical functions. It also can flavor wild and foraged foods to make them more palatable.

We all know the value of having sugar, and having some of this in your pack can make the instant coffee or tea taste much better. This also comes in handy when making pine tea or other foraged herb. According to this study sugar may also heal wounds faster, as it has antibacterial properties.

Of the three, baking soda probably stands out as the oddest thing to pack in your Go bags. There are scores of household uses for baking soda, but a few we’re interested in include using it as an antacid and to relieve itch and irritation from bites, stings and rashes.

Individually, these three items have enough merit to include with your evacuation and survival kits, but there are also some great combinations that you can use these for.

Salt and baking soda makes a good toothpaste that is very shelf stable. You can leave out the toothpaste and simply brush with this old-fashioned mixture.

Probably the most important use is when you combine all three of these together to create an electrolyte mix. When you’re sweating a lot or have a diarrheal illness, you need to replace the electrolytes that you’re losing. Mixing up all these of these components into 1 liter or quart of water creates an electrolyte replacement drink: 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of sugar.

Separately, any of these three items would be a valuable addition to your pack, but mixed together, they can become a life-saving mixture.

The Importance of Electrolyte Replacement

Dehydration during a survival situation can result in severe illness and even death. In 8 Reasons to Drink Water for Survival, I wrote about why water is important. Equally important to drinking water, however, is understanding what to do if you have gone for a long period without sufficient water, or as Rob points out, water loss due to diarrhea (it happens, especially if drinking foul, unfiltered water).

The Final Word

With each passing day, I seek out additional multi-use prep items. Part of this has to do with the lack of space to store everything here is my hunker-down, bug-in location. There is simply not room for everything I currently own let alone preps that are still on the bucket list.

The same theory applies to my bug-out-bag. With a bug out bag, there are not only space limitations but weight limitations as well. Try carrying 20 or 30 pounds on your back for even a couple of miles and you will know what I am talking about.

Fortunately, salt, sugar, and baking soda can be put into small packets or even in straws, then packed into odd corners of your pack. Packaged as a trio, they would make an excellent barter item, along with this recipe for an electrolyte replacement drink.

I don’t know about you, but I hope never to have to rely on salt, sugar, and baking soda for survival. But if I do, I will be ready.

Can you think of some other multiple-use food items? If so, be sure to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye

Bargain Bin: As much as the term “bug out” has been glamorized, my advice and the advice of most experts is to bug in unless your home is unsafe. Here are some items to consider as part of your bug-in preps. Off course the rule of thumb is always this: first purchase what you need to get by and later, as budget allows, add the extra items that will enhance and add dimension and depth to your existing survival gear.

But first, one item I have just purchased for my own Bug Out Bag.

Sea to Summit X Mug: I ordered this collapsible cup/mug because it is large enough to also use as a bowl. If it works out, I will order a second one.

Bicycle Canasta Games Playing Cards: This timeless classic will keep the entire family occupied when the power it out. Playing cards or board games should be in everyone’s preparedness panty.

Dorcy LED Wireless Motion Sensor Flood Lite: Don’t let the $20 price lead you to think this wireless flood light is wimpy. I have two of these and feel that these lights are worth double the price. Using D-cell batteries, the Dorcy floodlight will light up a dark room or a dark stairway in an instant. I can not recommend these enough.

Midland 36-Mile 50-Channel FRS/GMRS Two-Way Radios: These are the handheld radios that I own. There are lots of good uses for the these radios. Handy while hiking, traveling, or simply keeping in touch with your partner while out shopping. Just be aware that getting a 36 mile range out of any handheld FRS radio is a myth. 4 to 6 miles is more likely.

Need something from Amazon (and who doesn’t)? I earn a small commission from purchases made when you begin your Amazon shopping experience here. You still get great Amazon service and the price is the same, no matter what.

Amazon has a feature called Shop Amazon – Most Wished For Items. This is an easy tool for finding products that people are ‘wishing” for and in this way you know what the top products are. All you need to do is select the category from the left hand side of the screen.

Yep, I collect the salt, pepper and sugar packets from restaurants, the creamer ones too if available. Keep those in a Ziploc baggie to keep them dry. Have mustard, ketchup, ban sauce and Arbies sauce in Ziploc in the fridge. Since I already use those for lunches they get rotated frequently. Ready to grab and go.

Yep, I collect the salt, pepper and sugar packets from restaurants, the creamer ones too if available. Keep those in a Ziploc baggie to keep them dry. Have mustard, ketchup, bbq sauce and Arbies sauce in Ziploc in the fridge. Since I already use those for lunches they get rotated frequently. Ready to grab and go.

It is odd that we seem to no longer here of “Ebola”. We all know that if there is Ebola in our neighborhood, we are going to hunker down. We have learned how to make quarantine rooms. If one of our loved ones come down with symptoms, we are going to do all we can for them. Doctor them with EOs and any remedy from the olden days, (thieve’s tonic) but the most important thing to do is to “REHYDRATE”. Quarantine and rehydrate.

John R. you mentioned the “thieves tonic”. I’m trying mine out right now. It’s been aging and just as it matures, I get this great chest cold to try it out. 🙂 It works better and faster than any meds I have tried. I’ll be making double batches in the next few days. It will be good to have on hand, now that I know how well it works.
I couldn’t agree more about Hydration. I also like to be selfish and keep these colds in quarantine, the problem is they don’t like me enough anymore to stick around for long. 😉
Gaye or anyone else, if you know of anyone who tests their blood sugar, those testing strip containers make for great water/humidity proof containers. I use them for many different small carry items. Once used, they still make great containers for a bit of this or that which can be stored in a pocket. I like to search for pine resin when out in the woods, open, pop the resin in and it’s not messing up any clothes yet is available for a number of things. Guess I’ll be making up some ‘kits’ which have salt, my pepper mix, sugar and bs. lol

I travel a good deal and most hotels provide courtesy packets of sundries for use by the guests. Salt, pepper, sugar, sweetener plus a napkin and stirring stick are in a single package (plus teas and coffees). I take most of the packages I do not actually use (and of course this includes shampoos, lotions etc.).

Pre-mix about 4 of the electrolyte mixes. Store them in small medicine bottles that have good lids(screw tops). It can then be mixed quickly if needed. It’s hard to measure stuff if you are cramped over and shaking from electrolye lose…To help keep it from clumping up, although clumping it won’t hurt it, add about 10 grains of rice. Don’t worry about filtering them out…just drink them down.

My mother once used sugar on a badly bleeding accidental knife wound and said it crystalized and stopped the bleeding at once. moms been gone almost 30 years and she was 75 when she died… wish I had listened to her more and got her recipe for her spring tonic!!!!

HONEY is probably more useful than sugar. In addition to everything listed here, honey never goes bad, only crystalizes and can be used again if you add water. Like they’ve dug it up from ancient egypt and the honey was edible. Honey also can be used to clean and treat minor wounds and burns, and has antibacterial properties sugar doesn’t. //www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3609166/

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MEET GAYE

I'm Gaye, just an ordinary gal trying to make sense of our changing world. I am addicted to prepping, DIY projects, adult coloring books, and ballroom dancing. I live what I call a strategic life and believe you should too. Everyone needs to prepare for the worst and live for the best. Won't you join me?